Nation of Hollywood

When the Republic of Texas and the Empire State declared their independence, the Nation of Hollywood was not far behind.

Led by their president David Dunbar, the Nation of Hollywood has an active and growing economy, primarily due to its location. It fiercely contests the trans-Pacific trade with Pacifica, although the steeper import duties into the Nation are slowing investment by outside sources.

President Dunbar is the Hollywood ideal of a leader - energetic, intelligent, humorous and, above all, photogenic. There is a widespread belief that Dunbar, like his predecessors, is in fact merely a figurehead for the all-powerful Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - the film-studio cartel.

Whether or not this rumour is true, the AMPAS has bigger problems - in 1933, the National Actors Guild was established in Los Angeles. The Guild has started to form its own militia, and its leaders have close ties with the government of the People's Collective.

Hollywood has poor relations with most of its neighbors - the Knights regularly interdict and confiscate cargo moving between Pacifica and Arixo - but its main rival is the Empire State. Both nations claim to be the new home of American culture, and this rivalry has come close to a shooting war on several occasions.

Hollywood also struggles with a heavy pirate presence within its borders, especially along the west coast. With the destruction of Prince Vlad and his Red Dragons in 1937, the main pirate presence has shifted to the small volcanic island of Sea Haven.

The most powerful military group in the Nation is the Hollywood Knights, the state militia, although they are closely followed by the Ragin' Cajuns, a pirate group displaced from French Lousiana by the Louisiana militia in 1937. The Cajuns have taken over an ex-Knights island base near Sea Haven, and are thought to be preparing to attempt to take over that island.